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YOU COULD OPEN A COUTTS ACCOUNT WITH THAT! DAME ALISON ROSE RECEIVES A £2.4M PAY-OFF AFTER RESIGNING FROM NATWEST AMID FARAGE ‘DEBANKING’ DEBACLE
JESSICA FRANK-KEYES AND STAFF FORMER NATWEST boss Dame Alison Rose will receive a £2.4m pay-out from the bank after her dramatic resignation last month. Rose quit her high-profile role after admitting to being the source of a story on Nigel Farage’s finances, with the controversial politician ‘debanked’ by Coutts – owned by Natwest – over his political views. Natwest confirmed that Rose would receive her salary, shares and pension whilst serving out a 12-month notice period – amounting to an effective £2.4m payout. The former Ukip leader posted a video on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, claiming: “This is the
corrupt British establishment looking after its own.” Her shares are payable in Natwest Group shares and released annually on a pro-rata basis over five years from the date of award, the bank said. However, this figure does not include variable remuneration, such as bonuses or variable share allowances which Natwest said would be revealed “when such decisions are made”. Her salary “remains under continual review” and the bank left open the possibility of tweaking Rose’s package once internal and external investigations into the ‘debanking’ conclude. Rose insists that she did not discuss Farage’s personal
finances when sat next to a BBC journalist, but admitted she may have given the impression Farage lost his account at the private bank due to falling below the lender’s wealth threshold. Her replacement, Paul Thwaite, will be paid a salary of £1.05m alongside the same in shares. Rose was paid £1.15m, making this a rare case of a man being paid less than a woman for the same work. Rose’s £2.4m would be enough to open an account with Coutts, as long as she signalled a willingness to invest at least £1m of it. Savings accounts require clients to deposit a full £3m.
REPORTS FROM RUSSIA
Wagner boss Prigozhin dies in plane crash JAMES SILVER YEVGENY Prigozhin (pictured), the head of the Russian mercenary group and the leader of a short-lived rebellion against Vladimir Putin’s rule earlier this year, has died in a plane crash in Russia according to state media. The Kremlin ally-turned-critic was on the passenger manifesto of a private jet which crashed north of Moscow. Russian civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia last night confirmed Prigozhin and Wagner group commander Dmitry Utkin were on board the crashed plane, but western media have few ways to verify the reports independently. Last night, one social media account linked to Wagner accused Putin of organising the crash, and said it would trigger a second “march of justice” on Moscow. Critics of the Kremlin leader also pointed the finger of blame at Putin. Bill Browder, the Londonbased hedge fund manager who has become a leading antiKremlin critic, said Putin “never forgives and never forgets” with reference to Prigozhin’s role in this year’s coup attempt.
Liontrust spat fires into another gear after ‘bordering illegality’ accusations CHARLIE CONCHIE A REBEL group of shareholders trying to block the takeover of asset manager GAM have dramatically accused Liontrust boss John Ions (right) of tactics “bordering illegality” and reported him to the Swiss takeover regulator.
Liontrust launched a takeover bid for the ailing Swiss money manager in May but have since come up against fierce resistance from a group of investors calling themselves NewGAMe, which include the French tycoon Xavier Niel. In an escalation of the spat
yesterday, NewGAMe have reported Ions to the regulator over emails he sent to shareholders suggesting a key third-party manager, Fermat Capital, would sever ties in the event NewGAMe got their way. “John Seo [Fermat CEO] has also questioned the
integrity of NewGAMe, and, having suffered long enough [as you have] with GAM executive management, is in no mind to lunge straight into a relationship with people he does not trust,” Ions wrote to shareholders. However, after being
sent the email, Seo said he was “shocked and dismayed” by the suggestions and rang Ions to force him to retract the comments. “I never wrote those words, and I would never approve of those words,” Seo said in response. £ CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
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